The Umbran Flower: A Tangled x Bayonetta Fanfiction
by Flowinghand
Summary: Flower...Gleam And Glow Let Your Power Shine Make...The Clock Reverse Bring Back What Once Was Mine...
1. Wedding's Eve: Part I

It was April 30th, and the kingdom of Corona was filled to the brim with lights and celebration. It was the eve of the princess's wedding. Although it was fast approaching midnight, the kingdom's countless celebratory lanterns, which were set ablaze by its people, made the whole kingdom shine enough to rival even the star Polaris in all of its radiant beauty and glow. The villagers were anxiously preparing for the grande event that was to take place tomorrow, as they had gotten used to the help of their princess and it is customary for the queen and king-to-be to take the eve of their wedding day as a day of zen and relaxation—or at least, it "was" customary in generations past.

"Eugene...euuugene...Hmm, no answer", Rapunzel said. She had been up since seven in the morning doing a whole range of things: pacing around her room, reading an old book of hers and painting yet another depiction of the sun on the door, this time setting it over a beautiful tower on a hill.

"Mmmphmmf...", he groggily responded in a half-asleep stupor.

"...Ok, that's it. It's almost noon, and I'm about to go crazy.", she said. "Pascal, do your thing...Pascal?...Pascal...?"

She looked around. The room was dead silent. She tried calling out one more time.

"Pascal...Pascal, this is not funny, I really need your help with Eugene!"

Again, an eery quiet enveloped the room. Even Corona itself was mysteriously quiet, with the sky itself beginning to take an ominous shade of violet, almost as if the entire kingdom itself were being taken away from time itself. Rapunzel started panicking, as Pascal had never left her side like this before. As she was just about to get her shoes to check for Pascal in the horse stables, Rapunzel began to hear a strange music coming from the window. As motivated as she was go to find Pascal, there was something about this music that kept her feet stuck in the position they were in, an entrancing trait that kept her immobilized. As the music kept getting louder, she began to hear the voices of a choir singing in some sort of foreign dialect. What dialect it was, she couldn't tell—all she knew was that the voices, though they sounded like a normal choir, had an unusual quality about them, almost as if they weren't human to begin with.

Moments later, a slow, rhythmic vibration began to shake the floor of the room, growing louder and louder, almost as if they were coming from an enormous bird, flapping its wings through the open sky. Both the choir and wings continued to grow louder and louder, piercing Rapunzel's mind as she struggled to muffle the sound by covering her ears. She looked to back to the bed where Eugene was sleeping, hoping to see her husband-to-be awake and just as terrified as she was. Yet all she saw was the mangled face of a corpse staring right back at her, kept aglow by a bright red aura emanating from the window. She quickly averted her eyes from the image and tried staring out the window instead, yet what she saw left her without words. The kingdom was in flames, with the shrieks of the citizens fanning the ever growing fire covering Corona.  
She couldn't take it anymore. She closed her eyes. Even so, the sounds and lights kept growing louder and brighter, almost melding together in a chaotically dissonant melting pot of sounds until they suddenly stopped. Rapunzel waited a moment, keeping her hands close to her ears and her eyes completely shut until she felt the coast was clear. Almost a minute passed by in complete, almost-deafening silence. Yet, as quiet as the air was, it almost felt as if someone, or something, was with her as well.  
"Child of the Lumen flower...", a deep, almost guttural voice said from the other side of the room.  
Rapunzel, startled by the voice, opened her eyes; and was left almost without words. A white, bird-like creature, bipedal in appearance, stood before her in grande stature. Covering it's body was a pearl tunic, emblazoned with teal patterns she only had seen in mosaics across the castle walls. On it's head was a blood red helmet, making it seem as if the creature was preparing to go to war.  
"Child of the Lumen flower...heed my utterances...", she felt the creature tell her. Although she saw no movement of the creature's beak, she felt its voice reverberating in her head.  
"On this day...the kingdom of Corona will fall. There is nothing that can be done to prevent the curse that will soon envelope this land. You must see for yourself..." As he said this, a great explosion came from the village square. Rapunzel, suddenly able to move her legs, ran to the windowsill and watched as a dark violet plume of smoke rose from the square, accompanied by the agonizing screams of nearby villagers. Tears started to stream from her eyes. Her kingdom was falling apart before her eyes, pascal was nowhere to be found, and Eugene was dead—he was really dead. Worst of all, there was nothing she could do to stop it.  
"There has to be a way! There just HAS TO!", Rapunzel pleaded.  
"Child of the Lumen Flower...", the creature spoke as it hovered closer and closer to Rapunzel, who was once again unable to move.  
"Kill the one...", it said.  
The creature was only mere inches from Rapunzel's face. A bright light suddenly came from the creature's right arm which spawned a glowing, golden axe, emblazoned with the Coronan sun in the center of the weapon. The creature slowly raised the axe, centering its aim on Rapunzel's head.  
"...the one who's power threatens the light, the one who threatens Paradiso itself..."  
The creature extended its wings, which seemed to span the entire length of the room as it continued to speak.  
"So say I...Affinity...messenger of Jubileus". With a mighty roar, Affinity swung down its axe, leaving Rapunzel in a vacuum of total darkness.  
"I'm dead...no...we're all dead...and it's all my fault", she thought.  
"Rapunzel...Rapunzel...", a voice from the void spoke.  
"Rapunzel...? Blondie...!", the voice continued.  
"Eugene...?", Rapunzel thought.  
"Rapunzel...! Geez...Pascal, a little help...?", the voice spoke.  
Suddenly, Rapunzel felt a cold surge hit her as she opened her eyes to the sight of Eugene, alive and well, along with Pascal, who's tongue was curiously attached to something. Her ear.  
"Aack!", she shrieked as Pascal, startled half to death, jumped through the air and right back down onto Eugene's shoulder.  
"Geez blondie, ever heard of 'rise and shine'?", he exclaimed. "Change your cloths, we have to welcome the wedding guests today remember?"  
"Wedding...oh, the wedding...Yes.", Rapunzel yawned.  
"Geez, I knew we shouldn't have gone lantern-watching yesterday. You're gonna fall asleep on the guests, and I heard that one of the guests...Duke of Weaseltown or something...isn't so keen on informalities."  
Rapunzel chucked, "Ok Eugene, let me get ready."  
"Oh, I almost forgot...you need to wear this."  
Eugene tossed over something to Rapunzel.  
"We gotta at least maintain some sort of retro tradition in Corona after all."  
Rapunzel looked down at the charm, it was a little flower shaped in the form of a ring. She smelled the ring. Rosemary, her mother's favorite flower.  
"Wow, it smells amazing! Where did you get it?"  
"Your mother made it, she's really good at crafting you know."  
"Yeah, no kidding! What's the occasion?"  
At this, Eugene smirked as he mimicked the voices of the castlemaids.  
"Why _Rapunzel my dear_! Don't you _remember_?"  
He yanked a black curtain from one of the neighboring windows and placed it on his head, while Pascal sat on top, waving his little arms which, like his whole body, were as red as a tomato.  
"Today is Walpurgisnacht, the night of the witches."


	2. Wedding's Eve: Part II

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="db32e1e322d78f32259d8f72692550bf""Hey Blondie, we're ten minutes late, could you hurry it up in there?" Eugene exclaimed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="68a420efd08ec0c6dbdd2d87657c4a6c""Yeah, sure...just...give me a minute."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e74b3d91d0aa7bde0fb8e5a3c70d159d""Aw geez, come on!", Eugene exclaimed ,"I didn't get dressed in this itchy monkey suite just to show it off to this little wannabe rainbow—OUCH!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5311369b2803dad0ab11d735e78a2517"The guest greeting ceremony had already started, yet Rapunzel was sitting in the closet with her nightgown on, staring blankly at the lavender dress on the other side of the closet. Ever since she had woken up, she had been unable to stop thinking of the dream she had. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d10604d9c99e7e273290b3a2856a334d""Was it...real? Is Corona really going to...nevermind. I can't think about that, I'll get nervous and I won't be able to enjoy the ceremony."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bcf3e335f69235ecabafe8c83ef5090c"Slowly, Rapunzel got up and started to put on the dress while muttering to herself and staring at the clock./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="86ba31bc76ca1f921358eb9c8e9a8216""Great..." she said, "We're gonna be an hour late for the ceremony at this point..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a91979e3eeb3e01af2a04c2687444d4c"As she was beginning to pick up her dress, she felt a heavy weigh on her chest, almost as if her heart was deciding whether to continue beating or not. She then fell to the floor, weak and unable to move her limbs./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8a3194faf680f47b3f1fbb3a3d597e9e""What...? What's happening...?", she whispered in a hoarse voice./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="46e8378743eba39dc5f3d2edb5947917"She began hearing something outside of her closet—sounding like someone trying and struggling to unlock the door from the outside. As the mysterious force kept trying to push the door open, Rapunzel began to hear the slow, echoey tick of a clock—even though hers was completely still. Out of nowhere, Rapunzel then began to feel a strange heat coming from her head. She looked down at her arms and saw that they were aglow with a strange, warm light which was also emanating the same heat. The heat became more intense by the second, making her feel like she was being roasted alive. Finally, she began seeing hallucinations—various figures clothed in darkness and light swirling around her, each disappearing one by one. Once all the figures had vanished, she then saw an image of the moon, only it looked as if it was crying. Each tear that fell from the moon's face fell into a tumultuous, chaotic sea surrounding the bottom of a cliff—all except for one. This sole tear managed to escape the fate of its brethren and land on the tip of the cliff, instantly growing into a small flower. At first, Rapunzel thought it was the Magical Golden Flower of Corona, only it looked...different. Instead of being gold, the flower's pedals were decorated with a splendorous pattern of pearl white and onyx black trimmings. However, all of the sudden, the flower began to writhe and turn, it's pearl pedals slowly turning blood red, with the black trimmings growing what looked to be spikes. At this point, the heat surrounding Rapunzel's head increased by threefold. Just when she thought she couldn't bear the pain anymore, everything vanished in an instant—the images vanished into thin air, the room went back to normal, she was able to move normally again, the heat from her head had vanished and the clock began its usual pattern of ticking. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a80fcc05ec40066d159f4690f85b58a8""What...just happened...?", Rapunzel said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4008196c58cb32e1462c09a160091a9c"She looked down and was surprised to see her lavender dress and shoes already on her, with a mysterious pattern of a rose suddenly emblazoned on the center of the dress. However, this was not the strangest thing that she discovered. As she began to stand up to look in the mirror, she felt something strange graze the back of her neck. When she put her hand behind her head to feel what it was, the resulting sensation made her go cold in an instant. She slowly turned around, deciding whether to look in the mirror and confirm her suspicions or not. As her eyes started to catch sight of the mirror, she began to sing a song—a song she never thought she'd hear—once more:/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="735dcc3b506a40d9017fee48fed144b0"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Flower gleam and glow/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="62fd85a6cdd53966f1252321219d3074"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Let your power shine/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="00c21f8c90e4352d46b5d21258395882"She started to feel a strange heat emanating from her head./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="90cac399373b8ff734754be231347212"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Make the clock reverse/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a02e75f2869506f7459266631d29cca1"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Bring back what once was mine/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32530d8679915e38fc816d711d434968"She looked around and saw that the room was beginning to be covered in a yellow aura. Terrified but not knowing what else to do, she decided on finishing the song./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="32b195567367ab2f01614b3336da1bd1"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Heal what has been hurt/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="aba307f1443cfc2a8631747103b250e2"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Change the fates design/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="11316b7af3a95da182e8b7a08073e266"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Save what has been lost/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e64a6c160a84a2873847b0ba8d1a7173"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Bring back what once was mine/em/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9fc72d3f730469850d2f1589a27db720"On this last lyric, she had finally managed to turn completely towards the mirror, and—to her terror—confirm her suspicions. Starting from the roots of her head, down towards her shoulders, was a cascade of bright, glowing blonde hair./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="87fd6dbed6d428e9209e6c47c9961f7d"Suddenly, she felt a hard knock on the closet door, startling her and causing her to quickly shriek./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="4e79bc2f056d9980ec94987287385ae1""Hey Blondie, are you ok in there? I'm not a fashion expert, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take this long to put on a dress and shoes. If you want, I could get you some flats or something, since I know heels can be a little uncomfortable—"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7f2c352db4d3d5d93fe6c8b795674fd9""I'm coming out.", Rapunzel quickly shot back at Eugene./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="87c3ec220b96ae68a0fafb3ad618cf6f""At long last, princess of Corona.", Eugene said with a chuckle as the door opened. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d04e4ed801ef4dbeea69c164c287db75""I thought I was going to have to go in there and rescue—", Eugene's voice instantly stopped as he saw Rapunzel, blonde hair and all, leave the closet. Even Pascal turned white and remained motionless when he saw Rapunzel./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c65011fa204ec542eda2e7a1ac416c76""What...how—"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="45a0ceb01397d6980f5dc0b95b8d3a2c""I don't know Eugene.", Rapunzel said with a trembling voice, "I am...just as surprised as you are. Just...don't freak out. Please."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ddaa843e417ee1a2c11dcc86df2f6d28""We...we need to tell your parents about this Rapunzel. Maybe they know what to do."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="18086a199d199bf7abc74f8149828331""Maybe...but they're hosting the guest ceremony right now, which I was supposed to be doing...Ugh...Worst. Day. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Ever/em."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e4f0c34c77e85e47418f8a0aea55558e""Ok.", Eugene said with a sign, trying to calm Rapunzel, "Well first thing's first, you need to get to the ceremony, and em style="box-sizing: border-box;"look at the time /emwe are already fifteen minutes late."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="722507b6911c59153514adc43485570b"Eugene looked back and took the black curtain he had used earlier that day from the bed and gave it to Rapunzel./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="600c35a6c38f2474601db6a076dbad97""If the people see you with long, blonde hair again, em style="box-sizing: border-box;"they/em are the ones that are going to freak out, not me. The last time they saw you with blonde hair was when you were a baby...age-wise." he said with a smirk./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e9d9a1b123ac5ee13c600b1b8dbdbaf3""Huh, you're right.", Rapunzel said—smiling back—as she tied her hair in a bun and wrapped the cape around her head. "My life are a bit underdeveloped...especially when it comes to choosing a husband"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7bf7e3d79d2b465034b772408990b1c6"They both broke out in a fit of laughter, which ended in a tight hug by Eugene./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1cc8a0a98860b2127b72b30dfd2ca1c3""Eugene...we need to keep this a total secret until the ceremony is over, then—and only then—we'll tell mother and father. I em style="box-sizing: border-box;"promise/em.", she said./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="26aeabd0c99c77002e55825fbcd435af"—/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="24cf93a8bad325b1040b2b3e268db150""Presenting...the Duke of Weaseltown!", the army captain announced to the crowd of guests./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7291e8361b21811bfcf7be7e05167ac3""Captain...", the Duke whispered angrily, "It's em style="box-sizing: border-box;"Weselto/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"n /emnot Weaseltown."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="c0e811296dd96ca4d39a20807b023030"While the Captain and the Duke were having a quick argument, Eugene quietly sneaked Rapunzel behind them and sat down on her throne beside the king and style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"Rapunzel, darling, what took you so long?", the queen asked Rapunzel before she quickly asked about the elephant in the room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="481f553849f5181b08dd8cf3c9d04bdb""And...why are you wearing...your room curtains...?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9bdaa618256832b34b9c175a76f7ac5e""Well that's a long story—"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6bde24465195112ad08b458f239aa83c""Quiet you two.", the king quietly whispered through a smile. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="5ed61a03e1ad9625c81d683c0bb45e3f""We can talk about this after the ceremony. What matters now is that we do not take away from our guests' good time."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="7653de5daf297fe1771cb5ea00cf3c1e"Afterwards, the guest ceremony continued on as planned, with each guest offering a gift for the royal family beneath their thrones before taking a seat. The gifts were usually very elaborate: gold statues in the shape of the princess, mountains of flowers dragged in by fat oxes and luxurious gowns that would put any of the village seamstresses to shame. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d5f181f43860f83db8e4c58278e9a319"Rapunzel breathed a sigh of relief. The ceremony was almost over—and she was one step closer to finding out why exactly her hair was regaining its power. However, before that, there was one more guest left on the list to announce."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="50b95efdd7d2168f67530d26ce572a9e""And to conclude Your Majesties...presenting the—"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0e10cf9040bf8054fcf220c1640cc4ae""That won't be necessary my good sir.", said the voice of a mysterious man—dressed in white with a gold mask—who began to walk through the center aisle towards the stage, unannounced. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8522d1f628f6d2ddd4e111e81726c4ac"At this, the chattering crowd went dead silent as the sounds of his footsteps filled the room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3b06f9a8b9dcc403711576547fcf4073""Hmm?", the king questioned. "And you are...?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8474340886ce490fef9a0a95ec801fb6""My sincerest apologies Your Majesty—I'm not one for formalities. My name...", he said as he bowed down before the royal family. /p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f0458bcac513c526f03f4b65d152c26f"Removing his golden mask before regaining his posture, he spoke./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="3a5ef5ab7cf8da3d7e652eb777695509""...is Balder."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="008a613a34474cd26683405f348b64a9"He smiled./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d0a95c80bd52c489a285ec5593a35596""And I have a gift...for our beautiful princess Rapunzel."/p 


End file.
